FIFA advised to make major changes

FIFA’s new chief reformer, Mark Pieth, has announced his plans to prevent future corruption and said he expects some members to be unhappy with the changes.

Having been appointed chair of FIFA’s independent governance committee, Pieth – a professor in criminal law at the University of Basle – has been tasked with preventing wrongdoing at the game’s governing body. The role does not involve any investigation into allegations over previous actions.

Pieth is calling for a limitation on the powers of the FIFA president and for the executive committee to now include independent members, as well as for the adoption of serious anti-corruption measures regarding officials and World Cup votes.

“We are talking about serious stuff here,” Pieth told a news conference in Zurich. “Not everyone will like this. I’m not too worried about it because to some extent this is a process.

“We are trying to change something, but of course there’s a bottom line – if we are seriously unhappy I can say, ‘This is it. I’ve had it’.”

Pieth, who is being paid by FIFA for his work, has produced a 39-page report on proposals for reform. He warns that the bids for World Cups in FIFA’s current format are “highly visible and politically sensitive decisions and are actually a mix of corruption risk and conflict of interest concerns”.

He added: “Suspicion that individuals either sold their vote or profiteered directly from the choice of venue is combined with allegations of a strategic use of development money in order to influence decision-takers of ExCo.”

Pieth said the bidding process should be revamped to prevent manipulation and the decision for the FIFA Congress to take the final vote on World Cup hosts “is a step in the right direction from a corruption prevention perspective”.

Last December’s votes for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups became mired in controversy with two FIFA members banned for breaching ethics committee rules. England’s ex-2018 bid chief Lord Triesman made allegations of unethical requests by FIFA members during the campaign.

Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com

Tags: FIFA, Mark Pieth

Readers Comments (0)

Click here to cancel reply.

Name (required)

Email Address (required)